Prisoners live it up
PRISONERS at Innisfail's work camp enjoyed pornography, mobile phone calls and unsupervised use of a vehicle to roam the district, sources have claimed.
Several insiders told The Cairns Post prisoners had been going into town and other places without supervision.
Corrective Services officers and a dog squad searched the camp recently and are believed to have seized pornographic material and a mobile telephone.
Three prisoners were returned to Lotus Glen prison on the Tableland and one prisoner and his wife are facing charges relating to the search. A prisoner has been charged with possessing a prohibited item, allegedly a mobile telephone, and his wife with supplying the item.
They are due to face Innisfail Magistrate’s Court on March 2.
A Corrective Services spokesman said they could not comment on issues before the court.
The Corrective Services spokesman said offenders caught with contraband at the Innisfail work camp were immediately returned to a secure centre.
Visitors caught trying to smuggle contraband into a prison were also prosecuted and could end up serving jail time, the spokesman said.
Prisoners are also believed to have driven to Mareeba unsupervised.
Several sources who spoke to The Cairns Post yesterday said the site had become a "holiday camp" for inmates.
Internal investigation officers are believed to have interviewed both prisoners and staff since the surprise search of the Innisfail work camp on February 14.
Low-risk prisoners have worked on cyclone clean-up jobs and projects benefitting the community since the work camp was set-up at Innisfail after Cyclone Larry devastated the district three years ago.
Prisoners have been living in demountables at the Goondi Sports Oval but were recently moved to a permanent site at former mill buildings behind the town’s industrial area on its northern outskirts.
The move caused an uproar at Innisfail where residents accused the State Government of "riding roughshod" over
the community, ignoring the council’s vote against the site and more than 100 people’s vocal opposition at a public meeting.
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Scene: The prison work camp at Goondi is embroiled in controversy.
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